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Wednesday, 30 December 2015

I wanted to show you the recent cards I made for a couple of members in my Round Robin group. The idea was to make a cross stitched Christmas card that could be used as a decoration, with the theme of Christmas Zoo. So here are the two I made:

I made them both into hanging decorations as you can see, and made the cards using patterned papers and a few Christmas embellishments only. They took just over 9 hours to complete the pair.

Sunday, 27 December 2015

Hope you all had a good Christmas? I am back with my first Christmas card ironically enough lol.

I wanted to create a Christmas scene, without using too many Christmas elements. The images were off a CDRom that came with Cardmaking with your PC 25 I think. The image of the girl on the swing was coloured with promarkers before adding to the tree. Two bells were added to the bottom of the swing and a Christmas hat to the top to make the card more festive in appearance. I also added tinsel and baubles to the tree using papermania metallic and glitter markers. A quick CAS card, which certainly cannot be classified as 'Traditional' lol.

A story about developing
computers to allow them to use their own initiative without having to be given
explicit instructions. When Alex, the president of a very successful hedge fund
using his own technology to manage investment trade, is attacked at his high
security home, by somebody who has the security codes things start to take a
downward slide. He has to find out who is impersonating him, somebody who knows
his closest secrets, and why. He also has to stop them before major damage
occurs.

This book keeps you on the edge
of your seat, and it is quite believable that machines could develop in the way
the story implies, if given the right programming initially. It plays on your
own fears of artificial intelligence as well as the much more common
occurrences of identity theft and fraud. Well written and fast-paced, but the
ending could have had a little more information. The story is left quite open.
A good overall read.

Monday, 21 December 2015

Sorry it has been a while since I posted. It has been a very busy week with birthdays and visiting people, so I have spent very little time at my computer. However, I have made this snow themed card this evening:

I got these butterflies about a year ago and have not had any inspiration to use them.However for this card I followed the Atlantic Hearts Sketch #139 , and used a snowflake glitter vellum for the centre panel. I then inked two felt snowflakes using pretty colour ink pens in purple and blue. I also added some glitter using papermania glitter pens in purple and blue. Leaves were added, with more glitter, to make the snowflakes into flowers.The butterfly was added to the centre, with the wings folded up to give a 3D effect. Finally snowflakes were punched from silver paper and added as accents to finish. I think this has a real wintry feel with the colours and the sparkle!

This story is written from the point of view of the main character,
Iris, when she is an elderly woman, looking back on her life. The story is
based around events that led up to her sister Laura’s untimely death. The girls
are brought up by their well-off businessman father, who owns several factories
in Canada, but the depression after the first world war causes trouble, and
leads to Iris being asked t marry Richard to save the factories. Ultimately
Richard and his sister betray all that they have promised, and Iris is writing
it all down so her granddaughter can finally know the truth about her family
and her real father.

The Blind Assassin part of the book is a story within the
story, and is one that Alex, who has won both girls hearts, tells to his mysterious
lover, and which is then published in Laura’s name by Iris, several years after
Laura has committed suicide.

Parts of the story are interesting, and the inner story is
very intriguing, but it does tend to meander through certain parts of the
story. Also the description on the back of the book made me think they were
looking into Laura’s death in the story, which obviously was not the case.
However, most of the story keeps you interested, and so is good to listen to.

Saturday, 12 December 2015

I have been making more Christmas cards. First up is a purple Santa card:

I used a papermania cling stamp for the image, and coloured with Promarkes. The base is just a cheap patterned card base, with a blue Christmas paper across the middle, and the sentiment came free about three years ago with a Christmas magazine.

Monday, 7 December 2015

Here is my second creation for the week of Chaos over at Catch the Bug, which was a sketch:
And here is my card:

I covered a plain white base card with a pearlescent holly paper from Papermania. I then used glitter strips to add the definition to the base. The doily-like die-cut came with an ATC and I stamped the elephant image (which is a Crafter's Companion image) and holly onto plain white card using Papermania metallic markers, which actually worked quite well. I then coloured them using promarkers - metallic red gold, cool grey 2&3, Plum Preserve, Antique Pink, Mint Green and Poppy. Finally the sentiment was stamped using the purple matallic Papermania pen and purple glitter, and a deep purple bow added to finish.

This is a story about Witches and Kings. If you know these
books then this story is based around the three witches – Magrat, Nanny Og and
Granny Weatherwax (not sure if these are spelt correctly lol). When the King of
Lancrah is murdered, the witches help to spirit his baby son away from the
castle and keep him safe. They will not meddle in the affairs of kings however,
until the kingdom lets it be known that it is not happy with the current ruler
and wants the crown to change hands. Then the witches must use some inventive
magic to bring the rightful heir to the thrown back, to claim his crown.

I cannot read the Discworld novels but find them to be very
entertaining in audio book form. It is the style of writing that stops me from
becoming engrossed in the story, but this is bypassed when somebody else is
reading. This was a very amusing book that turns many ideas about witchcraft
and kings on their heads.

Saturday, 5 December 2015

I noticed that Catch the Bug have their week of chaos again this year, and while I never have enough time to do an entry for each day, I thought I would at least try to do today's and tomorrows themed cards. So here is today's card:

I received this image of Santa with one of the ATC's from the group I am in. I decided this was a perfect image for a Santa Claus is coming to town theme. I layered him onto gold mirri card and some poinsettia patterned paper, that were die-cut with X-cut nesting dies -large ornate frames. I also followed the rule of thirds for this card - as the technique in focus over at Crafting Techniques - by placing the image in the top third of the card, and the sentiment in the bottom and left third. The image is also compiled according to the rule of thirds.

The sentiment is three peel-off's stuck onto a circle die-cut from the poinsettia paper, and three red diamantes were added to finish the card.

Thursday, 3 December 2015

As promised here are a couple of new - non-card - creations and an update on my height chart cross stitch.

Firstly here is my amigarumi bluebird:

This is my first crochet animal and I am very pleased how he has turned out! I would have preferred black eyes, but these were all the local wool shop had. I would like to add this little guy into the crafting by designs Anything Goes December challenge.

Next is the completed cross stitch for November - a leaf sweeping doggie:

This little guy will be made into a card at some point.

And here is the Dino update at 25 hours

I tried a Western story from the library this time - as an actual paperback book - and here is my review:

The Last Ride by Thomas Eidson

This is a western, which is not
my usual genre. The storyline is about a dying man who left Western ways to
join with the Indians, but now as he is nearing his time of death, he has gone
back home to his daughter, to try to explain and die with a clear conscience.
Unfortunately his daughter wants nothing to do with him. That is until her
oldest daughter gets kidnapped by some Apache Indians, and it seems that this
old man is the only one who is able to track them successfully.

This was a very good book, which
looks at a lot of different problems that can arise between people, because of
culture, religion and belief. The twists and turns of the story keep you
guessing, and the author really allows you to get to know the main characters,
while keeping the kidnappers at a distance, ensuring that they are seen as
completely bad throughout the story, while others go from a bad to a good
perspective. If you like Western style adventure stories then this is a good
one.

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

It is the beginning of December (just in case you had not figured that out for yourselves), and I have a new challenge and a new technique in focus over on facebook. I have made a card that incorporates both the challenge and the technique. So here is my card:

There are two pictures because I couldn't get the picture steady without the flash, but you cannot see the butterfly properly with the flash. The image was found on google and can be found here - http://freevintagedigistamps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/free-digital-stamp-umbrella-hat-lady.html. I coloured the image with Promarkers - Polar Blue, Winter Berry and Icicle from the Winter Ltd Ed. and Cobalt Blue, Fuschia Pink, Arctic Blue, Pale Pink, Primrose and Lemon from Set 2. I used these colours to give a vintage, winter feel to the summery image. I then added peel-off's from the me-to-you range for the snowflakes on the image, and from my general stash for the sentiment and butterfly.

The Technique in Focus that this card uses is - THE RULE OF THIRDS. Please find more details at crafting techniques.

Saturday, 28 November 2015

Here is my second Christmas card for the weekend. I went for sparkly scandinavian style on this one:

I used a backing paper from a paper pad, which was scandi-style, and added a glitter ribbon on the side. I cut a frame using a Sizzix die and left-over red mirri card. The reindeer was a free gift with Simply Cards and Papercraft 141, and was die-cut from cream glitter card that cam from the centre of a previous die-cut. I tried using self-adhesive backing sheets, but then had to cut the adhesive with a scalpel blade to keep it neat, so I think I need to get some of the official sheets (or just some of the self-adhesive glitter sheets that have just come out). I added white pearls and a red/white glitter papermania sentiment to finish.

Friday, 27 November 2015

Back from Centre Parcs now and I have been busy making some Christmas cards. Unfortunately the holiday was not as relaxing as expected - always the case with family holidays though I think. I took some cross stitcing with mme, expecting to have more time to do some than I usually do during the week, and actually only did about half as much as I would normally do instead! Needless to say I probably need another holiday from work, just to get my crafting done, never mind to catch up on sleep.

However, here is the first of my Christmas cards (the second I will put into a separate post):

I used a Tim Holtz edging die that I have had for quite a while (it was one of the first dies I got from my OH when my parents bought me the Big Shot for Christmas), and a bauble die that was free with Simply Cards and Papercraft 129. I cut these dies from one of last years received Christmas cards. I then cut a background for the bauble using leftover gold mirri card and a Nellie nesting die. To finish I coloured some mosiac tiles with a purple papermania glitter pen (as they were pink to start) and added an accent line alongside.

Sunday, 22 November 2015

It has been another cold day today, although I think I have managed to sort out the heating for the main rooms now. And I am going on holiday tomorrow yippee!!

I have made a OL card and an ATC collection today. I am not sure how to split my post into two, so please be aware that the two different designs are for two different sets of challenges. Firstly, here is my simple thank you card (I am not sure I like it myself).

I used a cling stamp from papermania for the button strip, and stamps from my stash for the sentiment and corner. The sentiment and corner were heat embossed, although it is difficult to see this from the photo. Finally a little lilac bow was added to finish the card and add a little pop of colour.

Here is my Starry Night ATC collection, which means I now have nine ATC's ready to go next month. Now just to make a start on my cross stitched decorations exchange!

ATC #1

This first ATC was based around the Sketch from Sketchy ColoursSketch #259
I used a Helz Cuppleditch paper, a foam snowflake from my stash, as well as some Santa boots (no idea where these came from) and a pre-coloured Angelica and Adam image of fairy Angelica sitting on a stack of presents. The sentiment was hand-written (in case you couldn't tell).

ATC #2

This card has the patterned paper as the main background, with the snowflake in the same position, but a different shape for the image. Again the sentiment was handwritten using silver gel pen on Kraft card.

These first two cards from the collection are to be entered into the CRAFT 338 Christmas Present Challenge. Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to incorporate a present into the last one due to the style. I suppose I could have replaced the snowflake at the bottom, but I do not have a present stamp that would have fit into the space nicely. These two are also for the Crafty Hazelnut Things with Wings challenge (fairy sitting on presents).

ATC #3

Again the background is dominated by the starry paper. This time I stamped a sentiment and some snowflakes onto the background and heat embossed. Unfortunately I think that the background paper is a little strong for the delicate stamps used and it just overpowers the embossed areas. Oh well I wouldn't have know if I hadn't tried, and it does sparkle nicely.

So I did manage to get down to the allotment today and I cut down the Asparagus ferns, which the wind had already been trying to help me with, and mulched over the crowns ready for the really cold weather. I also harvested all my Beetroot, which weighed in at 3.2kg! Quite a harvest there. Yesterday I took the last of the apples off the tree and half filled a large bag for life! Hmm, does anything use Beetroot AND Apple???

I also emptied my potato sack in the back garden and harvested a good crop of 1230g, with only slight scab on some of the tubers. Not too bad foor a cold weekend in November.

Audio Book Review

1222 by Anne Holt

When a train is derailed during a snow-storm at 1,222 metres
above sea-level the passengers are all very lucky – the only fatality is the
driver, and nobody has suffered any serious injuries. Furthermore, they are
rescued and recovered to a nearby hotel. There is an unusually high number of
doctors, due to a conference that they were travelling to, making it easy for
all injuries to be dealt with quickly. However, it quickly becomes known as the
‘Finsey disaster’ (Finsey being the village where the hotel is located) due to
the event occurring during the isolation of the passengers in the hotel due to
the raging storm.

The book uses storm gaging for each of the chapters,
reflecting how the tension is increasing between the passengers through the
story. First there is the issue of the extra carriage with the secret
passengers, then there is the first murder. After this dissension, deaths and
suspicion follow. Hanne is an ex-police inspector who was paralysed when a
bullet severed her spinal column. She really does not like people and initially
finds her situation difficult. She does however start to get over her
prejudices and dislikes and determines to uncover the murderer, and maybe also
the mystery of the secret carriage.

A fast paced book with an unlikely heroine. I found this a
very good book to listen to, although I did think it was a little obvious where
the author was angling for the killer. The characters are well expressed and
full of character and there are several aspects to consider throughout. I would
love to find some more of her work that has been translated into English.

Thursday, 19 November 2015

The wind is finally calming down, but according to the weather it will be back to gale force winds Saturday morning, along with some risk of snow!! We are not quite ready for that - break us n gently please Mother Nature!!!

Today I have two crafty finishes to share with you, a cooking disaster and an audio book review :)

The first crafty finish is my October cross stitch. I have only just finished it as I ran out of the thread for the backstitch, and then as I had started the new one, this didn't get completed. But it is done now and here it is:

The second creation is a birthday card I made using the larger toppers from the Papermania Art Deco 'Roaring Twenties' collection. I thought this image made a lovely birthday scene - just what all us ladies would like :). Again I used a monochrome black palette, and here is the finished card:

The cooking disaster....well I decided to make my own mince pies this year. We are away at Centre Parks next week, which is the only time we are going to see OH's family before Christmas, so we will be taking all the presents (of course I still do not have all of them!). Therefore, I made some mince pies and froze them raw. However, I had some pastry left over, and as I am never very good with pastry I decided to make a few extra, cook them and take them into work as a taste test. The problem was that by the time I actually took them out of the oven, they were a little blackened - opps. I did still try the pasty and it has the texture of burnt pastry, so hopefully once somebody else cooks the rest of them it will taste like normal mince pie pastry lol.

AUDIO BOOK REVIEW

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Forty years after finishing school a letter arrives for Tony
Webster which makes him re-examine the memories of his past, and throws him
back into his old social circle. His serious school friend committed suicide,
but nobody ever really knew why, but why has the mother of his old girlfriend
left Tony his friends diary in her will. How did she get hold of it? And what
is in the diary that is important to Tony?

This story is written from the perspective of the main
character. Whilst it does have interest and intrigue it is not exactly
captivating and often goes off on a tangent. While this does make it seem more
realistic it also means that often you are left wondering what was meant by
something. Also there is not actually an ending, or a conclusion to the story,
which really annoyed me! Still, fairly interesting to listen to.

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Wow I think the wind is trying to take my house away!! I can hear lots of things slamming around outside and the wind howling down the chimney brrr.

I wanted to use some Art Deco toppers I got quite a while ago, but never got round to using, I thought they would make a stylish, monochrome Thank you card, and this is what I came up with:

Sorry about the flash spot, but it was really difficult to focus on the image without the flash! The topper is from the Papermania Art Deco Roaring twenties collection. The patterned papers used to make the quilted strip are a Make & Create and a Papermania Capsule Collection, Bexley Black patterned papers. Finally a glitter ribbon, and silver Papermania metallic pen were used to finish off the image, and a sentiment added from peel-offs.

And here s the promised update on the height chart - now at 25 hours (just under):

Finally, today's Audio Book Review:

The Devil’s Star by Jo Nesbo

The Oslo police force are short-staffed due to holiday’s
when a murder occurs, throwing the two main detectives, who hold a grudge
against each other, together in a race to catch the killer before he kills
again. The only clues are a severed finger and a tiny red diamond in the shape
of a star. A pattern emerges to indicate that they have a serial killer on
their hands. Harry is an alcoholic who risks losing his job unless he uncovers
the killer without further consequences, while Tom is suspected by Harry to be
a corrupt policeman. This is a fast-paced story that keeps you on the edge of
your seat. A very good story and well worth reading!

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

If you have been following my posts you will know I have two groups on facebook for crafters looking for new ideas, inspiration and challenges. My Christmas card for today has incorporated both groups:

The first group - crafting techniques - is focusing on Zentangle this month. Here is a close-up of the doodles in the Robin:

I have decided that Promarkers are not the best idea for doing this technique! Gel pens next time I think - and maybe pencil first lol.
The second group - Monthly Themes for crafting - has a theme of Racy Reds this month.

Saturday, 7 November 2015

What an awfully wet day we have today - so much for getting some prep done down on the allotment :(. I will however be going out into the garden shortly to do a bit of tidying up, and watering the greenhouse!

I have been playing with my Daisy and Dandelion 'Lovingly Yours' clear stamp set as I had them out for a Christmas card the other day and realised I had not really used them much. So here is the card I created:

I used a papermania patterned paper, a Zentangled column of paper (drawn using papermania glitter markers) and a piece of pink card. The image was stamped on a pre-cut scalloped circle and coloured with Promarkers. The butterfly, envelope and sentiment were stamped onto watercolour card and fussy cut. The butterfly was Zentangled with promarkers. These were layered under the scalloped circle according to the challenge sketch:
I would also like to enter this card for these challenges:papertake weekly Anything Goesaudsentiments BINGO (Favourite colour/Rubber stamp/Pattern Paper)

Thursday, 5 November 2015

I do not know how many of you are into knitting and crochet, but my crafting techniques facebook group focused on Amigarumi last month, and whilst I am still in the process of doing a crochet bluebird (I had to buy eyes before I could continue) I have finished my knitted Giraffe:

This months techniue n focus is ZENTANGLE - check out crafting techniques if this is a crafting technique you have been interested in trying.

I have also been working on my Dino height chart, which is now at just over 20 hours:

Finally I have another book review for you all.

Letters to my Daughter’s Killer by Cath Stainliff

This is a story about a Mother’s feelings towards the killer
of her daughter. She writes to him in order to try and get rid of her feelings
of hate and desire for vengeance, so that she can start to have a normal life
again, if not for herself, then for her grand-daughter’s sake.

The way this story is written is unusual as the whole story
is told through letters from the mother to the killer. There is no other
narrative at all throughout. I am not sure how realistic it is that the whole
story would be retold in this way – especially to somebody who was a part of it
– but it does work quite well. It gets a bit confusing sometimes, as the
letters are written four years later and so sometimes it is difficult to grasp
whether she is telling him of something that is current or in the past.
However, all-in-all a very good and captivating read. (You may end up wanting
to slap the female defence lawyer though lol).